Art of Crime Fighting

By Virginia Huie

Days before Christopher DiMeo of Glen Head was arrested, Long Islanders were able to see the face of the accused jewelry store robber and murderer. They saw his icy eyes, scruffy beard and pointy chin.  But what they actually saw was a composite sketch -- a likeness that brought in a flood of leads and helped end a deadly crime spree.

The DiMeo case is one example of how Nassau Police turn art into clues. I've seen many composite sketches while working as a news reporter, and I always wondered what it took to produce such an uncanny likeness of a suspect. Nassau Detectives Thomas Bischoff and John Fennessy gave me a behind the scenes look at what they do as forensic artists.

Bischoff and Fennessy work in an office called "Rogues Gallery" in Mineola.  Their crime fighting tools -- pencil and paper.  Their work requires artistic skill and more.  They play the roles of interviewer, confidant and investigator to extract the snapshot of a suspect's face from a witness's mind.  All these techniques are needed to tap into the memories of people who have seen a suspect for perhaps just a few seconds and who are, in some cases, afraid for their lives at the time. Fennessy says the process of producing a sketch is often therapeutic for crime victims.

"Especially when you get sexual abuse, you get rape victims, it is therapy. They just want to get this out of their head, and get something on a piece of paper and it does make them feel better," says Fennessy.

Fennessy says detectives are able to identify suspects with the help of composite sketches in about 50 percent of the cases.  Bischoff keeps a scrapbook of all their drawings that helped take criminals off the streets of Long Island.

"It's always nice when the good guys win, I like that a lot," says Bischoff.

I had fun covering this story... and I learned a lot.  I even got a drawing out of the deal.  Fennessy drew it from memory after his first meeting with me. It's a pretty good likeness, don't you think?  But I prefer to call it a portrait -- not a composite sketch :)

Comments

[D/Sgt. Anthony Repalone - Public Information Office, NCPD]

Virginia, Thank you for portraying(no pun intended)the tremendous job our detectives assigned to Rogues Gallery do to assist investigators in identifying and apprehending criminals. This was one of the best visual and informative segments produced by our friends at News 12 and we greatly appreciate the recognition and professionalism you attibuted to our Department.